My Sweet Olivia.

Game day.

I had worked so hard for this presentation. I wasn't going to let Monica stomp all over me. Just like Mr. Lewis said, “Let the best girl win this challenge.” I will give it my best and if in the end I didn’t earn the promotion, then at least I tried. Right?

“Hello, girl. Are you ready to kick Monica’s ass?” asked Levi with a grin on his face. I was so thankful to him; he had been very supportive since my first day at this company. “I got you an extra-large ice coffee on my way here.”

“Thank you so much, Levi. You are the best!”

We spent the next forty-five minutes coordinating the last parts of my presentation. Each one of the team members was assigned their own presenting points. “Guys, please remember how important it is to check our body language. We have an audience to convince that our marketing method will be more successful than Monica’s. Also, using visual aids, we have multimedia elements to help us. If you get nervous or need my help, just give me a signal and I will take over. Got it?”

I was feeling confident. Amelia helped me select an outfit that made me feel empowered. I got a two-piece pastel purple suit set. It had an open blazer and high-rise slim-fit pants. I was feeling overconfident because I matched that with a white tank top that exposed a little bit of cleavage. I wore my lucky gold necklace that I got from my mom and the Movado watch that I got from Noah for my birthday a couple of years ago.

Oh, and I also got myself a pair of nude pumps. I almost never wear four-inch heels anymore.

I was dressed to impress. On that positive note, my team and I walked to the conference room. We were the first ones to arrive. Monica and her minions arrived a couple of minutes later; they ignored us like we were chopped liver. It’s okay, we didn’t need her acknowledgment. I was not going to let anything block my optimistic mood this morning. Nothing would stand in my way. I just pretended that they were not staring at me like starving vultures.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen” said Mr. Lewis as he entered the conference room. “Are you all prepared with your respective material?” Monica and I nodded. It seemed like I wasn’t the only nervous one in the room. “They should be here in a few seconds. They were about to take the elevator,” he muttered.

I heard the clacking sound of heels walking on the marble floors by the elevator. Mr. Lewis was waiting for them by the door. And then the gorgeous goddess walked in; “Good morning, guys” she said in her charming voice.

“Good morning,” we all answered in unison.

Mr. Lewis took a few minutes to introduce himself and speak on behalf of the company. This business has been passed from generation to generation. Mr. Lewis’ grandfather was the founder of this amazing corporation. Then his father took over it and passed it along to him about ten years ago. I love the culture and principles of the foundation. They were a customer service-driven company where clients matter.

“And with that being said, I’d like to leave Monica and her team to present their campaign outline.”

I watched as Monica walked toward the front all alone. Her minions stayed put in their seats; I won’t say it surprised me, but it kind of bothered me a little bit. She wanted to take the glory all to herself.

I pulled out my notebook and started taking notes as she began speaking. The downside of presenting my campaign after hers, is that she might think that I copied some content from her. The great thing is that, so far, everything she was saying was totally different from what we had in mind. Poles apart different.

“I have a list of the most exclusive models that will highlight your designs. I also propose using The Fashion Runway in New York during fashion week as a platform to launch your clothing line and your brand” – My eyes widened in shock. Our presentations were not even close. This could either go so wrong or perfectly right for me.

“Using this platform will allow us to reach out to a very exclusive and upscale clientele, which will entitle the brand to increase the prices and have a more profitable return.” Monica continued with her presentation: “As you can see, the cost of the campaign totals around four-hundred-twenty thousand dollars. And guarantees a revenue of twenty-four percent within the first month alone.”

Oh boy! I kept looking at my team. I’m not sure if they were scared or simply shocked. Monica took a few more minutes to answer some questions; she was certainly short and focused. She delivered her presentation at under the designated time.

“Well, there you have Monica’s presentation; she will also send an email with the PowerPoint keys she used. Now let’s hear it from Olivia.” He introduced me and forgot to mention my team.

“Good morning, we are super excited to present the campaign model that we have designed for you. This might come as a shock, but our approach is completely different to Monica’s. And because of that, I’d like to ask my team to come up here and help me project our ideas.”

I wanted to throw a shoe at Monica’s face; she was giving me a sly leer. The rest of her team was giving me their full attention. I’m sure they were just under some kind of spell; or they were shocked that my team was presenting with me, and they did not get any recognition for their hard work.

“Unlike Monica, I propose that you use unknown models. If I’m not mistaken in one of your interviews with The Fashion House show, you mentioned that one of your goals was to empower women.” I had one of my team members play that small video clip to refresh her memory since the interview took place a few months ago.

“Using local models will definitely empower them; not only that, but you will also be launching their careers. The expense of hiring them will be almost sixty percent less because you will be dealing directly with the agency and not with an individual agent for each model. I also propose using a more organic platform to do a runway.” Monica’s demeanor had changed. She seemed concerned.

“If you use The Fashion Runway during fashion week, you will be competing with well-established designers. Plus, it is a private event and only a few news channels have access. You need a platform that will focus entirely on you,” I continued. “Therefore, I propose that we do the campaign here in Washington, DC. We will promote the event and will make sure we have a lot of local and non-local media coverage. That will also save on the travel expenses.”

I asked Max to present three of the possible venues where the event could be arranged. The first one was The Watergate Hotel, which has a spectacular view. The second one was The International Spy Museum, and the final one was the Woodrow Wilson Plaza.

“You have very distinctive and unique designs; to make them even more interesting, I propose engaging models of all colors and shapes—making them more inclusive rather than exclusive. Targeting a specific upscale clientele will be profitable in certain ways, but keeping in mind that the middle class is by far the largest in our region will double the profits. It will also create more work opportunities.”

At this point, Monica’s eyes were twitching uncontrollably. Just wait until she hears the big difference in the marketing cost; she will flip. Levi, Max, Justine, and Chris did a great job presenting their assignments. I did utilize my forty-five minutes, and I still wasn’t done.

“Justine, would you please pass the profit and cost estimate?” I waited for everyone to have the sheet in front of them. Even Monica and her team got one. “Our marketing cost was way under Monica’s proposal. We have estimated the total cost of launching the campaign at two-hundred eighty-nine thousand dollars. Almost thirty percent less than her campaign, and it guarantees to triple the profits within the first four months.”

The room was quiet for a good couple of minutes. Mr. Lewis’ gaze was set on me, and that definitely made me feel a lot more nervous. Was he assessing my presentation all this time?

“Mr. Lewis, I appreciate the opportunity. At this time, we are ready to answer any questions, if you have any. If you don’t, then I will be emailing you all the information via email.”

“Do you guys have any questions for either Monica or Olivia?” spoke Mr. Lewis.

“This has been a very interesting presentation. Clerence and I probably have already come to an agreement about who we would like to take over our marketing campaign. However, we will discuss a few other minor details, and we will get back with you sometime next week.”

I was so wrapped up in this presentation that I forgot it was Thanksgiving. I never got back to confirm with my dad if I was coming home or staying here with Noah.

Shit!

“Thank you, Monica and Olivia. You guys did great.”

My team was still standing up since we had just wrapped up our presentation. We approached Lidia and her husband, and we politely shook their hands before walking out of the conference room. It was nerve-recking because now we will have to wait to find out the results.

Monica and her team walked out right behind us. I pursed my lips, not wanting to say anything. It would have been so weird for me to say something now. Like, what would I say? I hope you did well, let the best one win, or great job with your presentation. All of those phrases popped up in my head, but I didn’t allow any of them to come out of my mouth. She seemed upset.

I walked into the office and sent a text to Amelia. And another one to Noah.

A few minutes went by before I got a response. And it obviously came from my best friend. Amelia works at the Pentagon and her phone reception would sometimes be bad. I was expecting my boyfriend to text me back at first. Typically, if we have an argument, he always reaches out to me to see if I’m doing better. Like, I was the one who blew out of proportion.

Amelia: OMG! How did you do?

Me: This is your fastest response... Lol!

Amelia: Girl, I was invested in that presentation as well ;-)

Me: Thank you!

Amelia: Have you talked to Noah?

Me: Not yet. Should I call him or stop by the office to make peace with him?

Amelia: They will be in the office all day. James told me to expect him home a little late this evening.

Me: Okay, I have to go. Mr. Lewis is looking for me. TTYL!

I didn’t even wait for her response; I went straight to Mr. Lewis office. I knocked on his door “Mr. Lewis, Levi said you needed to see me?”

“Yes, please come in” – I walked into his office a little nervous. I noticed he was evaluating me from the moment I stepped to the front of the conference room.

“So, I was wondering if you are free to go to lunch with me?”

“Hmm, I had promised my team that I would treat them to lunch today. But you can still go with Monica,” I said, with a surprising tone. I automatically assumed that he was taking both of us.

He chuckled. “Maybe we can do it tomorrow,” he told me.

“Of course,” I muttered.

“You did great with your presentation, Olivia. I am very impressed,” he said with a bright smile on his face.

“Thank you, Mr. Lewis.” It was a very nice complement. He made me feel proud of the work we had accomplished as a team. “It’s that all?”

“Yes. Don’t forget we will have lunch tomorrow,” he reminded me. I smiled and nodded before I turned around and walked out of his office.

I went back to my desk and kept working on other projects I had going on. I took my one-hour break and, as I had promised, I took Levi, Max, Chris, and Justine to eat lunch. It was the least I could do after all the work and effort they put into our presentation.

One more day. It was almost time to clock out and I had to work tomorrow, Tuesday. I was off Wednesday and Friday. I just didn’t know what I was doing for Thanksgiving. I made up my mind and sent Noah a text message; talking to him would give me a clear idea of what I had to do.

Me: Hey handsome! Are you free tonight?

But I didn’t get a response. I got myself occupied with a couple of follow-up emails I had to send to one of my clients. It was 5:13 p.m. by the time I realized it. I had texted Noah a second time around 3:49 p.m. he had more than enough time for him to reply if he wanted to.

I got in my car and called him; he did not pick up, but I remembered what Amelia had told me. So, I started driving to his office. I called James once. I was about ten minutes away, just to make sure they were still there. Traffic gets pretty heavy around this time of day around the city. “Hey Liv! Yes, you can go straight into his office,” he told me.

I was really looking forward to seeing my handsome boyfriend. I wanted to apologize even if I felt like I hadn’t done anything wrong. That is how my mother raised me. She said that in order to keep the piece in a marriage, you should learn how to pick the battles that you fight. I don’t want to fight him on this. If he is not ready to move in with me, then we will take things at his pace.

I arrived at the building and took the elevator to the 9th floor. There were about three or four people still working. I headed straight to his office. My heart was about to come out of my chest; I didn’t want him to be mad at me anymore.

Little did I know.